We keep the FUELAB Facebook page on our list of favorites, since they’re always sharing useful information along with some of the really cool builds their customers do on a regular basis. 

According to the FUELAB folks, the idea of a check valve is to hold fuel rail pressure, lower the fuel system’s priming time, and help with hot starts. Maintaining the pressure during engine cooling helps to prevent vaporizing of the fuel in the rail, which reduces evaporative emissions. 

FUELAB experiences many customer phone calls that suggest people want to put the check valve prior to the fuel pump. Not so, according to their information. Although that configuration will hold the pressure to the fuel rail, it will cause an unneeded restriction prior to the fuel pump. Since fuel pumps like to push fuel, not pull it, any sort of restriction prior to the pump’s inlet will eventually cause damage to the pump. 

They go on to say that an install that involves removing as much of the inlet restriction as possible will result in better performance, no matter what brand or style of fuel pump you choose – it’s just a basic principle of fuel system design. 

In addition to the tips they hand out regularly on the Facebook page, FUELAB has a Customer Support forum where many different topics relating to performance fuel systems are covered, from how to build a system, to proper wiring, to all sorts of product specific information.

For more information on the complete line of FUELAB fuel system products including pumps, filters, and fuel pressure regulators, check out their website.